I think the thoughtless telling of our children’s stories stems from forgetting something that all parents are prone to forget: my child is my neighbor. Yes, I am his parent—with all the authority and responsibility that entails. Of course. But my child is not simply my possession or an extension of myself. He is a human being, made in the image of God, with a soul that will never die. And his story does not belong to me.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

In summary, every believer is to make disciples in terms of engaging unbelievers evangelistically, and every believer should look to build into younger Christians as they begin to grasp the basics of following Christ. However, due to our different giftings, roles, strengths, and weaknesses, disciple-making requires a team effort. Gratefully, God has given us the church for this. Just as every person is not supposed to teach high school calculus, so not every believer will be equipped to train up future pastors and teachers for the work of ministry. Bridges reminds us to be faithful in the role God has given us.

There is a deep tendency in the past several years among evangelicals to stress building community and engaging the broader world. But where is the concurrent revival of interest in evangelism? Christians who seek to live faithfully for God in the world must always marry their "common good decisions" with the words of the gospel. This doesn't have to be annoying or necessarily happen every day, but all of us—whether we design homes or fix cars—must give a reason for the hope we have (1 Pet. 3:15).

Friday, March 22, 2013

The ESV online has been updated. Now it supports mobile view (finally) and it also has a nice bible reader view where you can remove verse numbers and footnotes: Updates to ESVBible.org:

On ESVBible.org you’ll find a significantly updated design with improved navigation and added features. In addition to updating the coding structure of the site so it will scale with future development, we've added several exciting improvements to the interface:

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

If we are not on this mission, then we must ask ourselves what we're doing here. Are we just working to make the church a more acceptable place to our friends and neighbors? Are we looking for a nice place to socialize on Wednesday nights? Are we turning spiritual cranks and pulleys because we think the church is supposed to do those things, because we feel better about ourselves when we do them?
The only thing that really matters is this: our God has a mission.

The following two job descriptions are meant to do more (but not less) than describe biblical gender roles. They are meant to couch biblical gender roles within the biblical character, biblical friendship, and biblical responsibilities that were meant to make gospel-centered marriage the blessing that God intended.

In Lapide’s mind, Jesus’ resurrection and appearances have only three possible explanations. They were either:
1. A religious myth,
2. A series of individual personal experiences, or
3. Historical events.
Though formerly a skeptic of Jesus’ resurrection, re-examining the evidence led Lapide to accept the resurrection as historical fact: “If the defeated and depressed group of disciples overnight could change into a victorious movement of faith, based only on autosuggestion or self-deception—without a fundamental faith experience—then this would be a much greater miracle than the resurrection itself” (p. 126).

Therefore, for the not-yet married, our (temporary) singleness is a gift. It really is. If God leads you to marriage, you may never again know a time like the one you’re in right now. A season of singleness is not merely the minor leagues of marriage. It has the potential to be a unique period of undivided devotion to Christ and undistracted ministry to others.

The mere suggestion that people need to change their own behavior in order to get a better result is often greeted by blank stares. People tend to believe they should have a good marriage for no other reason than that marriage is supposed to be good. They believe they should have a good marriage because that is what they prayed for. They believe they should have a good marriage because. . . .we.., just because.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

So at the center of everything is preaching the resurrection, the sign of Jonah. Because that takes courage too. If Jesus rose from the dead, then it becomes possible to see our own hearts for what they are -- craven and cowardly, and to be given new hearts full of boldness. If Jesus rose from the dead, then the Peter who denied Him three times can -- a few weeks later and just a few blocks away -- preach a message that delivered defiance to the world and all its ways. If Jesus rose from the dead, in this world, then this world is already being transformed into a new world. Now, someone might warn us, this world doesn't like that idea very much. And all God's people shrugged and smiled. We didn't think they would.